How complex is this? If 8 Million people die from air pollution a year, is the virus THE crisis?
Today is 8th of April 2020 and as I type this millions and millions of people have lost their jobs for some weeks now, food is disappearing, they are in lock down conditions in shanty towns, too scared to go out, walking home or trapped in the street crackdowns, India, South Africa, Philippines, all collapsed.
“My family has been struggling to get a meal every day. We cannot go back to our villages as there is a curfew. It will be a miracle if we survive this period,” Pratap Kumar, a construction worker.
“If the virus does not kill us, hunger certainly will. What the government has promised us in terms of remuneration has not reached us,” said Sanjay Deep, an agricultural worker.
India’s government discusses end of lockdown as millions struggle to find food
In India there have been 106 coronavirus deaths as of today, to put things in perspective 3,000 Indian children starve to death each day so that’s roughly 42,000 children since the lockdown began and 300,000 so far this year.
A lockdown seems like an ineffective cure.
Modi is going to keep it going despite the obvious disaster.
There are staggering multi-factors involved and a lot of exaggerating.
The 2017 flu is a good example, in Australia I remember everyone coughed from late 2016 and when I visited the UK in late 2016 everyone was coughing badly there and then everyone in Australia coughed all through 2017, around 1,100 Australians died. I work checkouts so back then I came up with the term ‘Stereo coughing’ as in listening to multiple people coughing in a supermarket.
The American figures for the ‘2017-2018 season was an estimated 45 million influenza illnesses, 21 million influenza-associated medical visits, 810,000 influenza-related hospitalizations, and 61,000 influenza-associated deaths’
38,000 deaths occurred in the USA over the 2016 winter.
12, 857 coronavirus deaths in the USA as of today is the perspective.
This was France back in 2017 with an ‘austerity’ health system in action.
‘flu sufferers, the vast majority of whom are elderly, were sometimes waiting “24 hours on stretchers” for treatment, resulting in a large number of “preventable deaths”.
French hospitals cancel operations amid brutal flu epidemic
Pollution has been an enormous factor
People’s lungs have been fragile enough in Wuhan for people to protest in 2019 so pneumonia, lung cancer, asthma and Tuberculosis are all common problems in Wuhan and other Chinese cities and shouldn’t be dismissed as factors.
‘On June 28, residents of the Yangluo residential district in the central Chinese city of Wuhan took to the streets to protest the construction of a waste-to-energy plant in the district. The protests, which occurred outside the city government’s offices, were met with a large contingent of regular and riot police, according to pictures and comments circulated on Weibo, and the violent response of the police was widely condemned by netizens.
Wuhan, like many cities in China, faces a waste disposal problem, as growing urbanization leads to dense population centers with little room for refuse. Wuhan’s city message board contains several complaints about smells emanating from the landfill currently located in Yangluo, as well as concerns about the construction of the new landfills.’
Environmental Protest Breaks out in China’s Wuhan City
Everyone’s lungs were already damaged in Iran, this was the end of 2019.
“Air pollution forced schools to close on Sunday in parts of Iran including Tehran, as the capital lay under a thick cloud of smog considered hazardous to health.
The pollution level in the capital was “unhealthy for sensitive groups” and officials warned the young, elderly and people with respiratory illnesses to stay indoors, with sporting activities suspended.
Intense smog forces schools to close in Iran, trucks to steer clear of Tehran
Everyone’s lungs were already damaged in Italy
‘It is only the end of February, but air pollution in Milan has already exceeded the legal limit for 2019, and the Po Valley swims in a soupy smog.
“I can really feel when there’s smog, I suffer all winter long,” 45-year old Milan local Fabio Cigognini told AFP, describing the asthma-like symptoms which plague him during the cold months.
“We breathe in poison, but no one tells us anything,” he said.’
‘We breathe in poison’: Why the Po Valley is one of the most polluted places in Italy
Does anyone remember the Killer London Smog in 1952 which killed 12,000 people in 4 days? Milan had the same smog all this winter.
“More than a dozen cities and towns across Italy introduced traffic curbs on Wednesday (Jan 8) in a bid to cut harmful emissions following a spike in pollution.
A prolonged period of sunny weather with little rain or wind has pushed up air pollution across the country, triggering smog alerts in more than 60 municipalities.”
Italy slaps curbs on cars as pollution chokes cities
‘Turin, Milan and Naples are the worst cities in the EU for dangerous particulate pollution, while Italy has the bloc’s highest number of premature deaths from nitrogen dioxide fumes spewed out by diesel vehicles, according to the European Environment Agency.’
These are the 55 most polluted towns in Italy
And France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
‘The Commission warned that citizens in these five countries were being forced to breathe ‘illegal air’ due to the high amounts of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) that were being emitted into the air.
NO2 is primarily emitted through transport and causes serious health issues— including heart disease, wheezing, coughing and bronchitis. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable. ‘
Italy ranks second on the list of countries with the highest number of premature deaths from particulate matter (the sum of all hazardous solid and liquid particles in the air) pollution in Europe.
The pollution in Italy derives mostly from diesel vehicles and the burning of solid fuels, the report said.
“Air pollution in Lombardy is alarmingly high. It has similar levels of pollution to the most heavily industrialised regions on the continent despite the fact it is one of the richest. It has the means to resolve this crisis but continues to dither,” ClientEarth’s CEO, James Thornton, said.
Italy slapped with air pollution lawsuit
‘The European Commission has threatened legal action against France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK after they failed to protect their citizens’ health against dangerous levels of air pollution.
Limits on NO2 are being broken, which can cause lung infections and heart disease.
In 2013, NO2 killed almost 70,000 people, which was almost three times more people than were killed in road traffic accidents that same year.
Children with asthma and elderly people with heart disease are particularly vulnerable to problems that coincide with breathing air polluted by NO2— such as wheezing, coughing, and bronchitis.’
Five countries face fines after breaking EU pollution laws
In between the smog a sandstorm went over the Canary Islands in late February and then veered North to Ireland with Spain and France on the way.
‘SAHARAN sands were found in many parts of Limerick this weekend, leaving many people dumbfounded – and many cars in need of a wash.
This Sunday, car windshields in Mungret, Dooradoyle and in multiple parts of the county were covered in a fine dusting of a sand-like substance after rainfall the previous night.
“Sometimes you get the dust blowing off the Sahara desert and the particles of that dust are so small that they easily stay up in the atmosphere,” he told the Limerick Leader. “They just get brought up by winds up the Atlantic and then blown on shore here in Ireland.’
Sands From Sahara Make Their Way To Limerick.
Last year there were volcanoes filling the stratosphere and making skies purple. Interesting times.
Cosmic rays are also high enough in my opinion to blow the Ozone hole with Nitric Oxide, if that is possible then add more Nitric Oxide to the smog formula while a prolonged proton/cosmic ray storm is happening during solar minimum.
There is a testing factor, test more people and you will get more deaths attached to a positive test.
‘Some officials also believe Italy, which has already tested over 42, 000 people, may have a higher number of cases as a result of performing more rigorous tests than their European counterparts.
Italy, however, is also reporting an above average mortality rate at 4%. The average age of coronavirus patients who have died because of the virus in Italy is 81, according to the National Health Institute. Italy, which has one the world’s oldest populations, could be facing a higher mortality rate as a result of its above-average elderly population. “Italy is the oldest country in the oldest continent in the world.’
Why Is Italy’s Coronavirus Outbreak So Bad?
There may hardly be a health system in place, after years of austerity and Neo-Liberal cuts to services and outsourcing to the cheapest bidder, a private health system couldn’t cope and it seems there were no supplies in the store rooms
‘The Madrid region, which arguably saw the heaviest wave of privatizations, is now under enormous strain given that it is also the epicenter of the country’s coronavirus outbreak.’
Spain Austerity Legacy Cripples Coronavirus Fight
The stats say we are freaking out and 2017 may still have been worse.
Covid19 yet to impact Europe’s overall mortality
Year-to-date statistics show excess mortality lower than previous years
The coronavirus test may be quite random on what it picks up, in Iceland half of the Corona Poz people had no symptoms.
A Chinese study questioned how accurate it was but that will be getting removed.
The test looks like a scam and a waste of money when we need all the things to treat all causes of pneumonia at the hospital first, that’s the problem.
There is now an end of the supply chain worldwide as well.
“Conclusions: In the close contacts of COVID-19 patients, nearly half or even more of the ‘asymptomatic infected individuals’ reported in the active nucleic acid test screening might be false positives.
Coronaviruses are normally found in lung transplant donor lungs so everyone may have them. Dogs get coronaviruses and so do cats.
“Thirty-four studies describing the clinical impact of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza, human metapneumovirus, rhinovirus, enterovirus, coronavirus, bocavirus or adenovirus were identified.”
People who got the flu vaccine may be susceptible to coronaviruses.
“Examining non-influenza viruses specifically, the odds of both coronavirus and human metapneumovirus in vaccinated individuals were significantly higher when compared to unvaccinated individuals”
Old people with heart disease are susceptible and drugs may worsen that.
Another Catch 22 here is half of the normal heart care services are being cancelled to deal with viruses.
“We therefore hypothesise that diabetes and hypertension treatment with ACE2-stimulating drugs increases the risk of developing severe and fatal COVID-19.”
Are patients with hypertension and diabetes mellitus at increased risk for COVID-19 infection?
Corticosteroid treatment to ‘soothe inflamed lungs’ allows pathogens including bacteria to have a party.
A month after this warning ‘Yet steroids also can impair the immune system’s ability to fight viruses and other infections’ apparently steroid use was still being thrown around like lollies. The antiviral results of steroids are quite plain.
“Our findings suggested “early” corticosteroid treatment was associated with a higher subsequent plasma viral load.’
Lack of sunlight also causes immune failure, a lockdown prevents sun exposure.
We are being told to avoid parks, beaches and stay in as much as possible.
“The virus was inactivated by ultraviolet light (UV) at 254 nm, heat treatment of 65 degrees C or greater…”
Inactivation of the coronavirus that induces severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS-CoV
Lots of old people were left in their beds.
‘Soldiers drafted in to help Spain tackle the coronavirus pandemic by disinfecting and running residential homes have found a number of elderly people abandoned and dead in their beds, according to the country’s defence minister.’
Spanish minister says older people found ‘dead and abandoned’
It is guaranteed lots of old people are freaking out at home alone.
A care worker from overseas told me this so multiply the story by thousands.
“I’ve been doing senior caregiving for the last 15 years, not in a retirement home, private home care. One of my clients, an 80-year-old, living alone, is terrified via MSM and wasn’t letting anyone in to her house. She’s on oxygen and a revolving door of meds. She has lost her appetite and is only drinking Ensure. Today I brought some distilled water for her oxygen tank. I had to bring it in, cuz she’s too weak to pick up a gallon container. I suited up and she opened the garage door to the kitchen. Her house all closed-up and dark. The place is a mess and so is she. It’s so frustrating and sad and so wrong!! I’m sure there are millions who don’t have anyone checking or caring.”
Fear raises cortisol which never helps with viral shedding, scaring people is not a cure.
“Basal cortisol production (operationalized as the calculated area-under-the-curve averaged across the 3 days) showed a graded association with infection risk, with those producing higher levels of cortisol being at greater risk. Cortisol also showed a continuous association with duration of viral shedding, an indicator of viral replication and continuing infection, such that higher cortisol concentrations predicted more days of shedding. Cortisol was not, however, related to severity of objective illness. “
Basal Salivary Cortisol Secretion and Susceptibility to Upper Respiratory Infection
Fauci in his own words said this is like flu so should we stop work and be afraid to breathe?
‘On the basis of a case definition requiring a diagnosis of pneumonia, the currently reported case fatality rate is approximately 2%.4 In another article in the Journal, Guan et al.5 report mortality of 1.4% among 1099 patients with laboratory-confirmed Covid-19; these patients had a wide spectrum of disease severity. If one assumes that the number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cases is several times as high as the number of reported cases, the case fatality rate may be considerably less than 1%. This suggests that the overall clinical consequences of Covid-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza (which has a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1%) or a pandemic influenza (similar to those in 1957 and 1968) rather than a disease similar to SARS or MERS, which have had case fatality rates of 9 to 10% and 36%, respectively.’
Covid-19 — Navigating the Uncharted
Does it compare with flu?
Yes.
‘The new coronavirus causing COVID-19 has led to more than 454,000 illnesses and more than 20,550 deaths worldwide. For comparison, in the U.S. alone, the flu (also called influenza) has caused an estimated 38 million illnesses, 390,000 hospitalizations and 23,000 deaths this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
That said, scientists have studied seasonal flu for decades. So, despite the danger of it, we know a lot about flu viruses and what to expect each season. In contrast, very little is known about the new coronavirus and the disease it causes, dubbed COVID-19, because it’s so new. This means COVID-19 is something of a wild card in terms of how far it will spread and how many deaths it will cause.
“Despite the morbidity and mortality with influenza, there’s a certainty … of seasonal flu,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a White House press conference on Jan. 31. “I can tell you all, guaranteed, that as we get into March and April, the flu cases are going to go down. You could predict pretty accurately what the range of the mortality is and the hospitalizations [will be],” Fauci said. “The issue now with [COVID-19] is that there’s a lot of unknowns.”’
How does the new coronavirus compare with the flu?
The effect of ‘a lot of unknowns’ is actually catastrophic for people though.
‘Appearing on NBC’s “Today” show, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading voice on the White House coronavirus task force, called the stunning loss of 10 million American jobs in two weeks “inconvenient,” maintaining that the economic hit is a mere side effect of necessary COVID-19 precautions.
“This is inconvenient from an economic and a personal standpoint, but we just have to do it,” Fauci told host Savannah Guthrie, backing what is effectively a national 30-day stay-at-home order.
Dr. Fauci then suggested an upcoming extension of the federal stay-at-home order until there is a vaccine, which could take well over a year or potentially years.
The shutdown “is our major weapon against this virus right now,” he said. “We don’t have a vaccine that’s deployable. This is the only thing we have.”
“We can get through it if everybody really leans forward and pushes on that,” Dr. Fauci added.
The Department of Labor announced Thursday “the highest level” of jobless claims in the history of the United States.
“After 3.3 million people claimed unemployment two weeks ago, which was by far the largest number ever for the country, another 6.6 million filed for new unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total to nearly 10 million in just two weeks. The previous high was 695,000 in a week back in 1982.”
Dr. Fauci: 10 Million Job Losses ‘Inconvenient’ But ‘We Just Have To Do It’
But nurses are losing jobs, don’t we need nurses?
‘An anxious ER nurse in Los Angeles took to Facebook recently to ask whether any of her colleagues nationwide were experiencing layoffs because hospital emergency rooms are virtually empty — one of the most surprising unintended consequences of the coronavirus crisis.
“This doesn’t seem to be talked about at all… People are losing their shifts and paychecks and jobs,” the L.A. nurse wrote. “We only had 5 people in the whole ER when they sent me home. My agency sent out an email blast basically saying that there are a lot of people struggling to find shifts.
“So, I’m curious if any other nurses are experiencing this?”
The response to her post was overwhelming.
More than 140 responses from across the country were posted on the Facebook private group page “All-ER nurses.” Most were concerned about diminished hours — or having no work at all — and the economic distress that would follow.
“Yes, we are dealing with some COVID-19 patients,” he said. “It’s just not nearly the war zone the media is making it out to be.
Unexpected Consequence of COVID-19 Crisis: Empty Emergency Rooms
One of the good signs has been the use of vitamin C in patients, finally.
My suggestion also would be to use vitamin B3 as well with food in low doses of 100mg to 200mg as I use it for asthma, it works and makes you breathe.
I take the full 500mg of B3 to breathe at night but always with dinner, it is bit like Sudafed so people know. B3 also lessens cytokine storm damage.
“The patients who received vitamin C did significantly better than those who did not get vitamin C,” he said.
“It helps a tremendous amount, but it is not highlighted because it’s not a sexy drug.”
New York Hospitals Treating Coronavirus Patients With Vitamin C
Not sexy alright.
There is a bizarre war going on in health care where any study on the use of vitamin C is contradicted. So our TGA in Australia issued a warning ‘about vitamin C use’ and to ‘not believe in any studies’ the day after this vitamin C suggestion from China.
‘The COVID-19 (SARS-2-Cov) pandemic, first reported in Wuhan, China, is now spreading to many continents and countries, causing a severe public health burden. Currently, there is no vaccine or specific antiviral drug for this deadly disease. A quick, deployable and accessible, effective and safe treatment is urgently needed to save lives and curtail the spreading. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a key factor of fatality. Significantly increased oxidative stress due to rapid release of free radicals and cytokines is the hallmark of ARDS which leads to cellular injury, organ failure and death. Early use of large dose antioxidants, such as vitamin C (VC) may become an effective treatment for these patients. Clinical studies also show that high-dose oral VC provides certain protection against viral infection. Neither intravenous nor oral administration of high-dose VC is associated with significant side effects. Therefore, this regimen should be included in the treatment of COVID-19 and used as a preventative measure for susceptible populations such as healthcare workers with higher exposure risks.’
This is not just insane it is quite irresponsible and endangers lives by telling flu sufferers to just use aspirin and ibuprofen with extra fluids.
This is the Australian government in charge of your health. Here.
I am not sure what they are thinking, do they ever want people to get well?
No evidence to support intravenous high-dose vitamin C in the management of COVID-19
I can also say the lemons and orange stands at my supermarket have been largely full for most of the panic shopping because of TGA advice to avoid them.
If you have just read scathing reports on how vitamin C never works, read this.
“Humans have lost their vitamin C-synthesizing capacities during evolution. Therefore, the uptake of this essential compound from external sources is mandatory in order to prevent vitamin C-deficient conditions resulting in severe morbidities such as scurvy. The potent antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and antiinfectious effects of vitamin C are known since the 1930s. We here (i) review the impact of vitamin C on innate and adaptive immune functions, (ii) provide an overview of its antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiviral, antiparasitic, and antifungal properties, and finally, (iii) discuss vitamin C as an adjunct treatment option for the combat of human infections by bacteria, particularly by emerging multidrug-resistant species.” 2019
Immunomodulatory and antimicrobial effects of vitamin C
If 42,000 Indian kids have died from starvation in the last 2 weeks, 300,000 this year?
Where is the main crisis?
Fauci won’t help, Bill Gates won’t help.
9 million people die each year from lack of food.
2.5 billion have no water, taps or toilets for their soap.
Tedros Adhanom the Coronavirus expert from WHO scaring us to death about pneumonia is also a tobacconist hustler, so he has a mansion and can stay in by the pool and self-isolate.
He also has a chauffeur and can drive around too.
Hustling tobacco, running the health agency for pneumonia and TB, cushy jobs.
‘In 2013, The Lancet reported that the Ethiopian Government authorised British American Tobacco (BAT) to post hundreds of posters advertising Rothmans cigarettes in Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa, an action that seems to have been in breach of Ethiopia’s own laws on tobacco advertising. At that time, Tedros, as Foreign Minister, did not appear to speak out publicly against this advertising.
Indeed, not long after he became Foreign Minister, Tedros attended a meeting in London with William Hague, encouraging BAT, among other UK businesses, to invest in Ethiopia.’
Questions around the candidacy of Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for WHO DG
Meanwhile….
“Ashu, 12 | ragpicker
Ashu and his two brothers spend their days in one of Delhi’s largest garbage dumps. They are rag pickers, scavengers looking for scrap metal using a giant, rusty sieve to help them sort the stinky debris.
If Ashu works very hard, he can earn 53 cents a day. He and his brothers have been unable to go to the landfill regularly since the closure was announced because if the police catch them, they will be beaten.
“I miss my friends,” he said, adding that he and four friends would meet in the garbage can every morning, work for a few hours, and then play with the treasures they found: broken toy cars, tattered dolls, and torn clothes.
“I heard that there is a China virus,” Ashu said. “But I am more afraid of the police and not being able to eat.”
For Indian Workers Blocking The Coronavirus Is An Order To Starve
A fiction writer couldn’t make this leadership story up
‘During a radio address on Sunday, Modi encouraged Indians cooped up at home to reach out to childhood friends on social media, dust off old musical instruments and introspect. “Don’t go out but go inside,” said Modi. “Try to know yourself.”
He has also shared some cartoon videos called “Yoga with Modi” for keeping fit, and encouraged people to watch them on a special Modi app.
He has also created a relief fund – PM-CARES – sidelining a decades-old traditional prime ministerial aid fund.
“Why the self-aggrandizing name, PM-CARES? Must a colossal national tragedy also be (mis)used to enhance the cult of personality?” historian Ramachandra Guha, a Modi critic, said on Twitter.’…. The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
India’s coronavirus lockdown hits poor, tests Modi’s support
Yesterday the Delhi govt handed over the phone numbers of 1,950 Tablighi Jamaat members to the police so the search and crackdown to collect them and ‘isolate’ is going on today and tonight in Delhi with a full moon, ghastly.
This is a recipe for the unspeakable and going on in many countries.
There are critics of this lockdown, the exaggerations, the panic, the laws to stop, block and detain people but the media and government seems to have gone a bit medieval in the 21st Century.
Heads up to all.
Stay safe.
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